lyons



C. H.' FNDI AND T. B. LYONS, 10F MOBILEfALABAMA.

Deelnemer-,MACHINE- Specif'icaton of Letters Patent No.' 10,668, dated March 2l, 1854.

T0 all wiz-0m, t may concern.'

Be it known that we, CHARLES H. FoND and THOMAS B. LYoNs, of the .city and county vof Mobile, State of Alabama, have invented a new and useful Machine for Dredging or Deepening Channels of Rivers, Harbors, Canals, Docks, &c.; and we do declare that the following is a full, clear,- and exact description of the constructionv and operation of the samereference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, in which'- Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine. Fig. 2 is a plan of the deck showing a portion of the excavating wheel land one' bucket. Fig. 3 is a side `elevation of ythe tipper arranged for being operated by a" cam.

Similar letters of reference in ther several figures indicate the same part of the ma chine.

'To enable others skilled in the art to make and use our invention, we will pro-y ceed to describe its construction and opera-` tion.

We construct a boat or barge with a iiiatr deck of the requisiter dimensions,-marked' A, A; from the center of the barge extend-V ing forward is a large pitor opening, seeI Fig. 2. In this opening or pit ,works our large excavating wheel, the iron shaft Bf crosses the center of the pit; upon this shaft are three orV more iron flanges similar .to those used on paddle wheels, marked C; each flange has eight arms of oak or iron, marked D; near the endsof these arms and on the outer sides of the wheel are two large cog rims or wheels, one of which is shown, marked E E; this wheel or rim is put on in Segments and bolted to the arms as at F; a straddle or strap spanning each on the back, for further security may be added; there are corresponding rings without cogs, to brace the arms of the 'center ilange or flanges (E1y Fig. 2), the arms passing through a mortise in the rings, these center rings being broader but not so deep as the outside cog rims, or rings; the ends of all the arms extend out beyond the rings to receive the buckets or scuppers. We are4 now describing a wheel with eight buckets or scuppers and three sets of arms, that is three flanges on the main shaft, although a greater number'of bucket arms and flangesv may be used. The scuppers or buckets are to be made of boiler-iron; they are of 'ani' yor ears, H, H, two on each end and `two Vjin vthe middle, so placed'as to receive arm ends, between each pair, the buckets kare then secured to the' ends of the arms by a round rod of iron (c) passing through the ears and arms secured by a nut on each end;

the bucketsmust now turn upon this barV as upon a pivot or hinge, so .as to set at one time on top of the arm as at' I, and again to turn: over and hang under the arm at irregular half cylindrical form G G; they f are first rmly riveted to a cast-iron bed- 'plate, from which projectthree sets of lugs YWe willinowl describe the latch or dogv "that holds the scuppers firmly on top ofthe "arms while they are digging, as at L, L;

these latches extend the whole'length of the i bucket; the drawing only shows the profile of them; they are intended to latch on to a projecting. ledgeof the bedplate of the 'Y bucket m, m' these catchesor dogs are piv- ,oted on to the armsin thesame manner as the buckets or scupp'ers, that is by'three sets of lugs and around iron bar upon which 'p they work; on two lof theselugs, to the two inner ones of the outsidegpairs are attached i two small levers with a weight on thel end N,' l\l;v this weight so ,adjusted'as to be an equal counterposeto .the catches when they v reach the point O on the'circumference; it I j will nowbeperceived that the bucket,'-P, 'i

when it reaches the point, O, will ,overset byits own weight passing the center' of gravity, the rounded surfaces of the heads'` f of the catches cominglin contact with the` rounded under surface of the `projecting 'ledge of the bedplate ofthe bucket; ,they` will pass each other' and' become 'firmly latched where it' holds `while `diggingzandl g raising, till it gets 4to the discharging point,

2, where itis discharged'in the following manner. The weights'on the ends of the levers N, N, 'have a small horizontal bar, marked z', that projects under the cog rim; now as the full bucket comes up thisl small barvcomes in contact with a rollerlixed .on thepermanentfpostiR, (which post isfirm to the deck on the edge ofthe pit) consequently forcingthe weight downward which liftsl the y'latch from the ledge. whenV the y contents intothe 'tippen S. rllhereis a bucketi'immediately overturns'throwing its prevents'them from going over too far; T, the curved face may have a cushion of vul-. canized india rubber or gutta percha, to break the fall of the bucket. This wheel 5 when put together will resemble somewhat a large steamers paddle wheel, the scuppers being placed like the paddle boards; the scuppers may also be made only half the width of the wheel, and placed so as to break joints like the paddle wheels now in use; you would then have to have two sets ,of catches and two tippers, which would load two scows at once, this completes the description of the excavating wheel.

The pillar blocks which contain the journals of the main shaft are fitted in four large slots bedded in the upright gallows frames U, UE attached to the pillar blocks by a fork (Z, is a large screw f running up through the plate or cross-beam, on top` of of this beam is a large nut with a ratchet wrench so that two men on top of each frame with a ratchet wrench could raise; or .lower the wheel to the requireddepth, or this could be effected with cog wheelsand ,belts geared to the engine so that the engineer could raise or lower the wheel by a brake, but the most approved plan on large machines would be by hydraulic pumps. A

XVe will now describe themanner in which the power is applied to turn this large wheel. The engine turns the cog pinion, V, which is meshed with the intermediate pinion. W, f

which matches with the large cog rim (where two engines are'used, thesalne gear- -ing would be on the yother side). The shaft of the pinionflVfworks, oii the Vend'of the long arm orl lever iv, which is attached to and works upon the main shaft; this inter` 40 mediate pinion, W, rigged in this manner is for the purpose of keepingthe large wheel always in gear with the engine; the lever or arm a' when it has found its position is secured to the permanent post, y, by a clamp.

Next to be described is the tipper whichl resembles a cart body, and rests upon an axle whose journals work on the outer ends of two long arms which extend to and work upon the main shaft, Z-Z; on the inner side of these are two pinions eight times smaller than the large .cog rim and meshed with them. On the inner side of these pinions is a crank and connecting rod rand s attached to the tipper to keep it up out of the way for the full buckets to pass, and then immediately drop it under and receive the discharge, as seen at letter V. This com-V pletes the description of the machines construction.

We will proceed to describe its operation of deepening water on a bar, in a river, or bay. You lower the large wheel so that it will cut say one foot deep, and then propel the boat or drag over the bar in the direction you wish to cut the channel: thus'makf ing a furrow one foot deep and the whole -width of your wheel. If you make two revolutions per minute you would cut, raise, and discharge sixteen Vscuppers in that time;` the the mud or sand to be discharged by the tipper into scows, which lie crosswise the bows, and under the tipper. These passages are to be repeated until the required depth of water is obtained. Or, lo-werthe wheel gradually till you dig a hole of the required depth and then pull up :against the bank ,the buckets will then cut up under the bank and the wheel will not requireto be raised. Vhen the pillar blocks are high up in the slots they should be blockedup underneath.. l i

The boat is propelled or kept up to its work `by having paddle wheels on the ends of the shaft of the pinion V, or by a drum winding "chains Vattached to anchors, `out ahead inthe. same manner as now used by other dredging machines.

The tipper may beoverturned by means of a cam m as shown in Figf instead of the connecting rod r and crank S.

l/Ve do not claim the wheel with the` buck- Vvets or scuppers across its peripherygnor do we claim the means of revolving said wheel, or the means `of elevating or depressing the same, with the view of increasing or diminishing the depth' of earth caught by the scuppers. y But: v f y lWhat lwe do claim asour invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

v1. A tilting tipper applied to a dredging wheehsaidtipper dropping within the outer circumference of :said wheel` so as to bein a position to` receive the mud Vdischarged from the buckets as herein` set forth.

2; Also the arrangement for causing the tipper to tilt out of the way lfor the full buckets to pass, and return again to its position toreceive the mud discharged; and for keepingfthe tipper in gear with the wheel, so that itwill always perform "its 'duties notwithstanding the difference in their relative "positions when raising and lowering the wheel.

' 3. We further claim the combination of the latch or dog L with' the ledge of the bed plate m of the bucket by means of which the bucket is adjusted and held `firm while digging and raising the earth as herein set forth. Y

-In testimony whereof, we have hereunto slgned our names before two subscribing witnesses.`

CHAS. H. FONDE. THOS. B. LYONS.` Witnesses to the signature of (1H. Fond:

WM. PL ELLIOT, JAS. D. CLAY. Witnesses to the signature of T. B. Lyons:

SIDNEY F. DOUGLAS, WVM. BANcRorT. 

